Reporters Without Borders (RSF) has joined the Media Freedom Rapid Response (MFRR) — a consortium of press freedom organisations — and several Ukrainian and international media organisations in opposing amnesty for crimes committed against journalists as part of a deal to end Russia’s war in Ukraine. An initial 28‑point peace plan reportedly floated the possibility of a general amnesty and RSF reiterates that no lasting peace can be built at the price of impunity for war crimes against civilians, including media professionals.
“Lasting peace cannot be built on impunity. Since the start of the Kremlin’s full‑scale aggression against Ukraine, 16 Ukrainian and foreign journalists have been killed and dozens of others wounded by Russian armed forces. Attacks on media infrastructure have multiplied. The perpetrators of these crimes must be identified and held to account before the international justice system and all relevant national courts.
Since the full-scale invasion of 24 February 2022, RSF has documented 16 cases in which journalists were killed while carrying out their work, more than 52 wounded by gunfire, and twenty-six Ukrainian journalists arbitrarily detained in occupied territories or in Russia. RSF has filed nine complaints against Russia for war crimes committed against the media and reporters in Ukraine with the International Criminal Court (ICC) and the Ukrainian justice system, as well as two complaints with the French justice system.
